THE STATE budget for acquisition and restoration of wildlife areas has taken significant hits in recent years.

Now, with the economy revived, Californians need to refocus on the importance of preserving our natural heritage. The state's remaining pockets of open space and wealth of wildlife cannot be taken for granted, especially as a thriving economy creates an era of expansion.

California will be home to 15 million more people in 2020, according to state Department of Finance population projections.

Where will they live? What sort of quality of life will they experience? What will be the impact on California's natural resources?

Sensible planning now can help reduce the chances that resources such as open space, wildlife habitat and water quality will be randomly and thoughtlessly sacrificed in the rush for new development.

One of the most effective conservation methods -- both in avoiding land-use conflicts and assuring permanent protection -- is the Wildlife Conservation Board's program to acquire and restore wildlife areas. This program, cut back severely in the recession years, identifies areas that are critical to sustaining resources such as wildlife habitat or water quality.

"California has already lost more than 90 percent of our historic wetlands and riparian areas -- two of the most important types of wildlife habitat," an impressive group of conservation-minded groups wrote in a recent letter to state Senator Quentin Kopp, whose subcommittee has been reviewing the wildlife budget. "These areas are vital to protecting water quality. Our failure to protect these areas impairs our water system and forces many species to the brink of extinction."

The signatories on that letter included many groups who have strong and often differing views on environmental protection: Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, Greenbelt Alliance, National Audubon Society. Their unified push for a $100 million increase in the Wildlife Conservation Board's acquisition budget will carry clout, but legislators should know that all Californians have a stake in maintaining the natural resources that make this state so special.

Now that they are contemplating a budget surplus, state lawmakers should not lose the opportunity to make carefully selected investments that will pay off in the future. Why this particular program? For one thing, most of the projects involve only a one-time outlay, so it would not be building a burden into future budgets. Also, land costs are on the rise. Now is the time to act.

This land-acquisition program represents money well spent toward maintaining a quality of life that is essential to the state's long-term economic health.